Marketing Dilemmas Of New Solo Entrepreneurs
I’ve noticed a couple of recurring conflicts when newly self-employed service professionals start to market. I discuss them regularly with my new coaching colleagues as we build our businesses, and I discuss them regularly with my Outside The Job Box Career Expert Consultant © colleagues. Seth Godin’s blog post today added another layer of thought to these conflicts. I started out writing a forum post for my fellow consultants, but it kept growing. I realized the information is helpful to all professionals who provide service to individuals and struggle with marketing, so I posted it here.
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How About Something You Don’t Need Or Want?
My birthday was just a few weeks back. I don’t make a big deal of my birthday – in fact, I don’t make a big deal of anybody’s birthday unless I’m reminded that it really matters to that person. But it’s heartwarming to get cards and e-mail or text messages from people I know. As an ongoing student of marketing and networking, I find it instructive to get messages from people who only know me as a prospect or new networking contact. And I find it intriguing to get messages from businesses where I am a customer, especially from a business that goes all-out to acknowledge birthdays but fails to deliver in their stores.
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It Really Can Be Simple
I’ve been talking and writing about a less formal, more organic, more comfortable approach to marketing for a couple of years now. I’ve given examples right here of ways to see marketing so you can approach it naturally, with authenticity and ease. But I don’t think I really “got it” until I saw that vision being lived out. The roasted marshmallows might have helped.
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Brilliant Advice, So I Finally Took It
More than once I have advised a colleague or client to think about purpose before using a marketing technique. A couple of times I have even caught myself wrestling to learn how to use a marketing tool or medium before I have a clear idea why. I have written about using the guiding question, “To What End?” Now, finally, I applied this wonderful advice, made an important decision – one which I made before but then rescinded – and acted on it.
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